Cageside View: Lighter weight classes

Demetrious Johnson current flyweight champ

Welcome back to a brand new Cageside View! Sorry for the wait, things kept getting slowing this series down. As you'll learn this series will feature editorials on top of event coverage. On account of me missing covering a... FEW past events it will be about a specific topic this time. As you can already tell from the title this is about the lighter weight classes in mixed martial arts. This article is more for the casual fans or for the fans that want to go from being casual to being more serious about watching MMA. As most hardcore fans probably already know what I'm going to say.

What brought this up was watching UFC on Fox 6 back in January. Where Demetrious Johnson and John Dodson had it out for the flyweight belt. The fight that transpired was one of the most exciting back and forth fights I've seen in a while. Yet, since most people believe "heavyweight equals strongest" most people don't care about seeing the lightweight guys. It's something that's been around since at least pro boxing has been around. So, people probably won't buy a pay per view if it's headlined by fighters of the lighter weight classes.

Here's what you should know about the lighter weight classes if you're not familiar as to why they ought to be given the chance to headline main events more often. The lighter fighters are able to move more often and faster and usually thanks to how well their cardio is they can fight with high energy throughout all the rounds. Going back to the Johnson vs Dodson bout there wasn't much of a lull throughout the fight, though there were some illegal blows that stopped things for a bit, but that doesn't count. There's also fights in the 155 pound weight class like the famous Anthony Pettis vs Ben Henderson where something that is much less likely to be seen by heavyweights, a kick by jumping off the cage. There's also the fact that the 155 lightweight class is a division full of top level fighters, another reason why you won't be bored.

Going on the subject of heavyweight fighters and the heavyweight champion being "the strongest man on the planet" as I've said earlier has been around since at least pro boxing has been around. People would think the biggest guys were naturally the strongest. Of course you can't fake physics, having more mass especially muscle mass does make one physically stronger and there are weight divisions because of this, but that isn't to say someone like Anthony Pettis couldn't defend himself from a heavyweight if need be. Mixed Martial Arts is about technique not just brute strength.

In short, watch the fights of the lighter weight class guys (and women too) and see for yourself how exciting and main event worthy they can be. The athletes may be smaller but they're fights are certainly not.

Cageside view: Bellator 86

We are back with a new Cageside view! First off, I want to thank everyone who read this column's debut. Also don't be afraid to leave a comment, I love feedback and I want to know what you guys think and what I should do more or less of. With that out of the way let's get things underway. First off we have...

The Facts: Results (I'm going based on what I saw)

Preliminaries

Cortez Coleman defeats Matt Jones via unanimous decision

Damon Jackson defeats Zach Church via submission

Raul Amaya defeats Jose Gomez via t.k.o

Brent Weedman defeats Marius Zaromski via unanimous decision

Jason Sampson defeats Chris Pham via submission

Main Card

Ben Saunders defeats Koffi Adzitso via unanimous decision

Douglas Lima defeats Michail Tsarev via t.k.o

King Mo defeats Przemyslaw Mysiala via t.k.o

Ben Askren defeats Karl Amoussou via t.k.o

Hunter Tucker defeats Javier Obregon via digivolution... just kidding he won via submission

The Blows

We had some interesting fights on this card. In the fight involving Ben Saunders a german suplex was attempted this ended poorly for his opponent. Because as his opponent was trying to suplex him Ben Saunders stopped it by sitting on his face. A funny yet still effective way to stop the throw.

Michail Tsarev got his leg destroyed by Ben Lima and I do have to Tsarev respect for still trying to fight but the doctor was right for stopping the fight as Tsarev could not stand on that leg and wouldn't have been able to fight anyway.

King Mo shows that a staph infection and being suspended did not slow him down as he had an impressive first round knockout and showed that all his hard work paid off.

Ben Askren absolutely dominated Karl Amassou. To Amassou's credit he was never knocked out and kept on trying to fight back no matter what. But Ben Askren is just so strong he was able to dictate the fight exactly how he wanted it to go.

I unfortunately did not see the Hunter Tucker fight.

Talking Points

King Mo and Ben Saunders are picking up steam again. I am a big fan of King Mo and it makes me happy to see him come back after all the crap that's happened to him. What about you guys you think King Mo will find success? Ben Saunders looks good in this tournament, is it possible for him to get past the semi finals?

Ben Askren is such a strong dominant champion. Who has the best shot of taking him out, if anybody? Should he just already move up into the UFC?



Here's something extra. Bellator post fight interviews from Sherdog.

Cage-side View: The Final Strikeforce

Hello guys. This is Jeremias here, with a new series I've dubbed Cage-side View. If you frequent readers of The Broken Infinite didn't know I am a fan of MMA. Seems I picked a good time to start focusing on MMA as the final Strikeforce event occurred this past Saturday and with that final Strikeforce plenty of talking points came with is as well. How are these going to go down? Well, if the article is focusing on a specific event as this one is it'll be broken down into "The Facts: Results" "The Blows" and "Talking Points". Alright here we go!

The Facts: Results (Who won, who lost, no more, no less for those who haven't seen the event)

The Preliminaries

Estevan Payan defeats Michael Bravo via t.k.o

Adriano Martins defeats Jorge Gurgel via unanimous decision

Roger Gracie defeats Anthony Smith via submission

Pat Healy defeats Kurt Holobaugh via unanimous decision

Tim Kennedy defeats Trevor Smith via submission

Ryan Couture defeats KJ Noons via split decision

Main Card

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza defeats Ed Herman via submission

Josh Barnett defeats Nandor Guelmino via submission

Daniel Cormier defeats Dion Staring via t.k.o

Tarec Saffiediene defeats Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision

The Blows (talking points on the fights themselves)

First, I must mention that I unfortunately missed the preliminaries as they happened. But first, I wanted to bring up what was the controversial decision that the judges made giving the victory to Ryan Couture in his bout against KJ Noons. I did see it later though, and I have to say that I felt KJ Noons won like many others. I am not going to bash Ryan Couture however, as I felt, he did solid in this fight but I do not believe he won the match. From what I watched, I felt that KJ Noons fought smarter; he landed more significant strikes and he was stopping Ryan's takedowns and he made it so Ryan could not control him in the cage. I do not think this hurts Noons since Dana White was even saying he felt Noons won; so he'll still get his chances to prove himself.

On to the talking points of the main card, we had a lot of early stoppages. As a matter of fact, only Saffiediene vs Marquardt went the distance. It seems that a lot of these fights were just made for certain people to steam roll their opponents and look good as Strikeforce ends. Except for Souza vs Herman and Saffiedine vs Marquardt. Souza may have won pretty easily but Ed Herman isn't a low level chump though. Souza has been on a good roll lately and looks like he'll still be in good shape for future fights.

An under the weather looking Josh Barnett (for good reason as he was just coming off being sick) took out Nandor Guelmino ridiculously easy considering he still didn't look 100 percent. He also cut as usual a pro wrestling style after his win. I do like Barnett on the mic but it wasn't his best promo. It was still good just not his best.

Daniel Cormier steamrolled through Dion Staring, but unlike other people who say Dion Staring looked like a kid who won a make a wish dream to fight with Cormier in the cage. Dion, however, is a competent heavyweight. There are plenty of people he could beat if put into the UFC. If it's just compared to the skills of Cormier he was no match. Credits to Dion, however, for having a never say die attitude and taking more punishment than most people.

Tarec Saffiedine vs Nate Marquardt is a really good example of executing a game plan. Tarec ,the 3 to 1 underdog, outstruck Nate Marquardt all 5 rounds. Leg kicking Nate Marquardt until his leg looked like a piece of hamburger. Marquardt didn't look lifeless in there but, Saffiedine just knew what to do in there against him. The underdog upset Nate Marquardt for the Strikeforce Welterweight title. Which is a bittersweet win for Tarec on account of it's Strikeforce's last event and it basically meant he was just champion for one day.

Prime USDA choice

Talking Points

Alright! This being Strikeforce's last card one of the main things is people's minds who is coming over to the UFC? Dan Cormier is already set to fight Frank Mir in April so you know he's set. I believe both KJ Noons and Ryan Couture will make it the UFC. Especially since as mentioned before Dana Noons won the fight and Ryan is on a upswing after getting the decision. I also believe Jacare Souza and Roger Gracie will come over as well as Saffiedine, I'm mostly sure that Marquardt will make it as well but you never know. I'm uncertain of the preliminary guys but I think they will as well. The big question as to who will make it over however is Josh Barnett. Josh has been in trouble with drug tests three times before. He also seems to be interested in coming over to pro wrestling.

what will become of the Warmaster?

Another talking point of this card is Dan Cormier. In his post fight interview, he mentioned that he will fight Frank Mir and that in the fall he plans to drop his weight class from heavyweight to light heavyweight and go after Jon Jones. Cormier is a really gifted skilled fighter but can he take it to Jon Jones? Personally, I think he does have a shot, but I don't see Jones going down.

How about you readers? What do you think of the card? Who do you think is coming from Strikeforce's roster that's still unconfirmed? What do you think Josh Barnett will do and what would Cormier vs Jones be like?

Thanks for reading and be sure to follow me on twitter @ikariradio for my thoughts on MMA events as they happen if I can catch 'em.

An interesting link especially if you're curious on the thoughts of the Strikeforce owner with this last card.: Scott Coker reflects on the last Strikeforce from Sherdog.com

This Week in Awesome # 1 (Volume 2)

Welcome  ladies and gent to This Week in Awesome. It has been a long time since we did one of these. And To celebrate, This Week in Awesome comes back hard. We aren't just covering comics anymore. We are gonna cover the geek spectrum. Comics.. Anime. Games. Toku. If it is awesome, we'll cover it. So let's get to it?

Wheelchair 21:

    Del Rio (from WWE) became World Heavyweight Champion this week. And he beat the Big Show in a Last Man Standing Match. Del Rio used the announcers table to hold him down for the 10 count. Yeah. That was awesome!


Visible Ninja: 

    The best stuff for me this week was getting my Super Best Double Driver from Kamen Rider W, Super Best Deca Driver from Kamen Rider Decade and my G2 Big Bad Toystore Bruticus.

Darkon633:

   I found a game that I lost YEARS ago. Thunder Battlezone 2. I love that game. And now I have it again.


Hector Ramirez:

My Moment of Awesome this week is from Batman & Robin 12. Batman flies off in his batarmor to divert a missle and the 4 generations of Robins watch in awe.



Jeremias de Leon: 

 I'm going to go with MMA and say Andrei Arlovski's quick victory from the recent World of Fighting event.   Why? Because it looks like Arlovski is building momentum 2013 after a previous win at the end of last year and before it looked he washed up losing all his previous fights. In case you need an explanation, the fight he had last night makes it look he might be having a comeback.


Devin Walker:

The Introduction of Kamen Rider Beast. His belt is just too cool.


EIC Frankie Rodriguez:

Words cannot express how epic THIS is (from Screw Attack) :